>>2870046
“Captain...”

“Go,” he insists to you. “Take care of this jerk and go back up the second line. We'll be fine, we can manage at least this much.”

You can see Shunsui stagger to his feet, bleeding profusely from his side.

“Right. Leave this battlefield to me, then.”

>Drop the spell that's been hiding you, use your sudden appearance to draw the bird-man's attention.
>Release your swords one step at a time to maintain the kyokko spell that's been hiding you, launch a few hit and run attacks.
>Start it off with a bang, use a powerful kidō spell to cause enough of a scene that Nanao and Shunsui can slip away.
>Other?

>>2870056
>>Start it off with a bang, use a powerful kidō spell to cause enough of a scene that Nanao and Shunsui can slip away.

>Start it off with a bang, use a powerful kidō spell to cause enough of a scene that Nanao and Shunsui can slip away.

>>2870056
>>Start it off with a bang, use a powerful kidō spell to cause enough of a scene that Nanao and Shunsui can slip away.

>>2870056
>Start it off with a bang, use a powerful kidō spell to cause enough of a scene that Nanao and Shunsui can slip away.

>>2870056
>>Start it off with a bang, use a powerful kidō spell to cause enough of a scene that Nanao and Shunsui can slip away.

>dice+3d10, best of three
>dc 17, critical 23

Rolled 4, 10, 9 = 23 (3d10)

>>2870145

Rolled 5, 2, 7 = 14 (3d10)

>>2870145

>>2870149
Well then

Rolled 6, 8, 3 = 17 (3d10)

>>2870145

>>2870145
You need to come up with a solid plan for causing a big enough distraction that it will draw this flock of quincy seagulls away from the Head Captain and his Lieutenant, at least long enough for them to escape using shunpō. Factoring in Nanao's level of skills, and Shunsui's injuries... it'll have to be one hell of a blast.

And you think you have just the thing.

With a single shunpō you set foot in the middle of the crowd of squawking man-birds, allowing the speed and violence of the movement to strip away the spell that had been hiding your body. Then you draw your sword.

“Zangerin.”

Had Tenkōtsuki not been released already this technique might not have been sufficient, merely a nuisance to the quincy flock. But with that little extra bit of power from having her help with the incantation, despite not needing it to cast the spell yourself, the single rapidly-expanding ring of sharply focused reiatsu acts like a widening guillotine that slices through their necks. The rounded heads of these eerie birds are left hanging suspended in air for an instant, their structural support suddenly absent, before gravity asserts its control over the situation.

With a startled cry like a stuck pig, the heads hit the floor of the tunnel.

Shunsui and Nanao are off like two shots... two rather slow shots by your standard, but with the multitude of enemy bodies all decapitated there's not much they can do to stop it.

Doesn't stop them from trying.

“How dare you!?” the quincy's many mouths demand in a discordant crescendo. “Who do you think you are, shinigami!?”

The bodies run circles for a few precious moments, as if trying in vain to body-slam your retreating allies.

“I am...”

>Kusajishi Riku, and I'm pissed off.
>Kusajishi Riku, Captain of the Ninth Division. Pleased to meet you.
>Kusajishi Riku, shintai of Inari no Tsubu
>Courtesy dictates that you offer your name first, invader.

>>2870364
>>Courtesy dictates that you offer your name first, invader.

>>2870364
>Courtesy dictates that you offer your name first, invader.
If this man bows before the divine, then we'll use our divine cred to make him submit.

>Kusajishi Riku, shintai of Inari no Tsubu

>>2870364
>Kusajishi Riku, shintai of Inari no Tsubu

>>2870364
>>Courtesy dictates that you offer your name first, invader.

>>2870364
>Kusajishi Riku, shintai of Inari no Tsubu
Technically not a captain anymore.......

>>2870364
>Courtesy dictates that you offer your name first, invader.

>>2870364
>>Kusajishi Riku, shintai of Inari no Tsubu
I'm sure there won't be any ramifications for identifying like this rather than as a captain /s

>>2870364
“The usual rules of courtesy demand that you should introduce yourself first, invader,” you reply sternly. “Then I will do you the courtesy of offering my name in exchange.”

“I am Lille Barro,” the heads respond, as the stumps of their necks stretch in a struggle to reunite heads with bodies. “The X-Axis, angel of the Lord.”

Ah, a monotheist.

In a universe where it is demonstrable fact that multiple deities exist and all follow a certain set of rules, and share a certain set of characteristics, monotheists who have this information available to them and insist that there's only one “true” god in spite of that are a special kind of crazy.

“Now, I demand you answer my question. Who are you who dares to stand against a holy Angel?”

“Kusajishi Riku,” you greet him with a glare at the nearest chicken monster. “Shintai to the august kami Inari no Tsubu.”

You feel a little tingle of recognition from Tenkotsuki at the use of her formal name.

“A Captain that is a shintai?” Lille Barro repeats. “How is such a thing possible? It is not possible. It cannot be, which means that you are a liar.”

“And to lie in the face of an Angel of the Lord is a grave sin.”

It seems that along with his shinreiryoku, however much he had before losing it, he also lost his ability to sense shinreiryoku in others. Either that, or he's in such a delusional state that he cannot help but simply reject the reality of a situation which he disagrees with. Either way it's pathetic.

“I don't know about this 'lord' you keep chirping about, bird,” you growl. “Nor do I particularly care. But for one as powerful as yourself to be as deluded as you apparently are is a threat to all.”

>Demonstrate the reality of what you are. Full release, no substitutes.
>Withhold Bankai for now, test the limits of his regenerative abilities first.
>Withhold Bankai and Rosa. The power of a shinigami is enough against a flock of noisy birds.
>Other?

>>2870534
>>Withhold Bankai for now, test the limits of his regenerative abilities first.

>>2870534
>Withhold Bankai for now, test the limits of his regenerative abilities first.

>>2870534
>>Withhold Bankai for now, test the limits of his regenerative abilities first.

>>2870534
>>Demonstrate the reality of what you are. Full release, no substitutes.
Time to break this fool of his delusions.

>>2870534
>Demonstrate the reality of what you are. Full release, no substitutes.

>dice+3d10
>DC 18, Critical 24

Rolled 3, 6, 2 = 11 (3d10)

>>2870604

Rolled 3, 3, 9 = 15 (3d10)

>>2870604

Rolled 9, 4, 4 = 17 (3d10)

>>2870604

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193 KB JPG

>>2870615
>>2870611
>>2870610
WE DROPPED THE BALL!

File: 1475005781216.png (331 KB, 721x427)

331 KB PNG

>>2870604
“Raze, Kobara no Tachi,” you declare, drawing Rosa's blade in a burst of heavy reiatsu that washes over the birds that are all Lille Barro. The blade in your left hand and the blade in your right shine with a murderous glint. “You'll see what you're dealing with soon enough, you deluded idiot. I'll show you the reality of what I am and who I choose to be.”

A blow with Tenkotsuki catches in the nearest bird's torso, where a strike from your left elbow against its spine pushes the edge clean through the chest cavity like a wedge struck by a hammer. Then you lash out with your left arm in the other direction, Kobara no Tachi's edge slicing through the bird's throat and just about ripping through the back of the neck from the ignition of Lille's own reiatsu.

“Shunkō!” you shout, delivering a spinning heel-kick to the side of a bird that tried to charge you while you were felling its... can you call it a comrade if they're all the same person? The blow shatters the surface of its body like a cracking pane of glass, throwing it into a third bird in a tangle of frantically struggling necks and legs.

But to your shock nothing seems to 'stick', not even the usually lethal wounds inflicted by Kobara no Tachi's razor edge. Instead the monster simply laughs.

“Is that all you are, little godling?” several of the bird's mouths cackle. “I am not certain why I was worried.”

And of course, it turns out that these bodies can all use hirenkyaku.

Even like this Lille Barro is fast enough to take you by surprise, and has you outnumbered enough that he can simply swarm you.

Under the sheer volume of attacks one was bound to get through, and eventually one does. A beak impales itself into your side as the body behind it propels you forward, like you've been stuck on the point of a charging lancer's weapon. You feel your back slam into the wall of the Dangai, which normally would have been a disaster.

>Kick it in the chest to get it off of you, then release your Bankai.
>Cast a hadō through your blood, destroy its head while you're impaled by it.
>Utilize your Bankai's specialty form, “Akirashi Shunkō.”

>>2870672
>Kick it in the chest to get it off of you, then release your Bankai.

>>2870672
>>Cast a hadō through your blood, destroy its head while you're impaled by it.

>>2870672
>Kick it in the chest to get it off of you, then release your Bankai.

>>2870672
>>Kick it in the chest to get it off of you, then release your Bankai.

>>2870672
>>Kick it in the chest to get it off of you, then release your Bankai.

>>2870672
>>Kick it in the chest to get it off of you, then release your Bankai.

Secondary vote:
>Bankai: Akirashi Shunko
A powerful and still somewhat risky variation of your Bankai that operates more like Shunko. Simply releasing it would cause damage to Lille.
>Bankai: Higeki no Ojo
The standard, more defensively-oriented Bankai form which functions as a suppression field against non-divine reiatsu.

>>2870764
>Higeki no Ojo

>>2870764
>>Bankai: Higeki no Ojo

>>2870764
>Bankai: Higeki no Ojo

>>2870764
>>Bankai: Higeki no Ojo

>>2870764
>>Bankai: Higeki no Ojo
This dude is not allowed to do anything other than take his beating like the red-headed stepchild he is.

>>2870764
>3d10, DC 18, crit 25

Rolled 10, 6, 9 = 25 (3d10)

>>2870849

Rolled 9, 4, 9 = 22 (3d10)

>>2870849

Rolled 3, 7, 9 = 19 (3d10)

>>2870849

Rolled 63 (1d100)

>>2870849
THe dice were just a little rusty last time.
>>2870855
Hell yeah!

The dice really don't like Lille.

>>2870864
Will Riku Throttle a Flamingo like a disney cartoon villain throttling a bird?

>>2870861
Well that's embarassing. Could have sworn I typed it in right... I guess that's what happens when I try bouncing between a few different quests at the same time.

>>2870864
With all the strength you can muster from this awkward position, you plant your foot directly in the chicken monster's center of mass. The blow sends the chicken flying, with a sucking noise as its head is ripped out of your own torso.

“Bankai: Higeki no Ojo.”

“What is this!?”
“What is this!?”
“What arrogance! What heresy!” the chickens shriek as your reiatsu washes over them. “What heresy is this!?”

“No heresy, but yours by your own definitions,” you counter sternly. “Say your goodbyes to the shintai, I hope you enjoyed her company. You now face the current incarnation of Inari no Tsubu.”

“You may also call me Inari Riku,” you offer most graciously. “Pleased to make your acquaintance, now if you could be so kind I would like you to die now and leave my presence forever.”

“I see... I see... I see!” the chickens cry out in a raucous symphony of the same voice. “I see your heresy, Kusajishi Riku! I see your delusions! You think yourself a goddess, you think yourself above me!”

“I am beyond thinking,” you counter calmly. “There is no longer a need to re-consider what I know to be true.”

With a single burst of speed you dash forward, your hand locking around the neck of the nearest bird before almost casually slinging it into its neighbor with a loud squawk.
>3d10, best of three

Rolled 2, 1, 7 = 10 (3d10)

>>2870930

Rolled 9, 8, 10 = 27 (3d10)

>>2870930
I apologize

Rolled 4, 8, 7 = 19 (3d10)

>>2870930

File: I like this post.gif (1.37 MB, 200x254)

1.37 MB GIF

>>2870936

>>2870936
Man, we're about to slaughter these flamingos. Time to turn them into a home-cooked chicken dinner?

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>>2870936
But you don't stop at that. Refusing to release the chicken whose neck you've already got in your hand, you grab a second by the throat with your other hand.

It's simply a matter from there of swinging them like avian nunchaku, smashing them together and against their brethren in a cacophonous series of squawks and caws. There are feathers everywhere by the time you throw the two battered-looking chickens in your hands with a pirouette, then firing a pair of ceros like the opposing beams of a lighthouse turning in place.

The world itself seems to roll with thunder.

Then there's a lurching feeling.

“What was that?” you grumble in a distorted voice, eyes narrowed at the hints of a new threat. The side of you that was once Tenkotsuki leads you to believe that whatever technique Shunsui used to stabilize this part of the Dangai will not last indefinitely.

A surprise attack forces you to manifest a shining silver blade at your right side, parrying the onrushing peck-attack so that the chicken runs headlong into the wall behind you with the same force as the attack which had pinned you before.

“Will I ever find the end to your heresies!?” the many bodies of Lille Barro crow. “And now you use the manifestation techniques of a quincy while wearing the mask of a HOLLOW!? Have you no shame, no pride!?”

“I tire of your endless squawking,” you admit angrily, manifesting a second kodachi in your left hand. “You may have many heads in this form, but apparently they are all empty. You may have many eyes, but all of them are blind.”

You raise that second blade, aiming it at the body directly in front of you. “Were your heads not empty, if your eyes could see, you would know that you are outmatched.”

>Switch to Akirashi Shunko, show him the true grace and power of your kenjutsu style.
>Continue suppressing him, try your best to destroy the heads of these many bodies.
>Hadō 99: Goryūtenmetsu
>Kaizō Hadō: Goryūtenmetsu Itto-ryū
>Other?

>>2871059
>Hadō 99: Goryūtenmetsu
5 giant dragons, one corridor. a bunch of chickens. overkill much? nah, not enough overkill.

>>2871059
>>Hadō 99: Goryūtenmetsu

>>2871059
>Hadō 99: Goryūtenmetsu

>>2871059
>>Kaizō Hadō: Goryūtenmetsu Itto-ryū

>>2871059
>Hadō 99: Goryūtenmetsu
The stabilization won't last forever so let's use a horrifically destructive weapon to speed that along
Also Inari Riku is spooky, I like it

>>2871059
>3d10, DC 18, critical 27
>best of three

Rolled 9, 9, 3 = 21 (3d10)

>>2871131

Rolled 7, 7, 4 = 18 (3d10)

>>2871131

Rolled 10, 6, 4 = 20 (3d10)

>>2871131
Here we go!

Rolled 4, 10, 7 = 21 (3d10)

>>2871131

Rolled 6, 2, 1 = 9 (3d10)

>>2871131
Second time for magic?

Rolled 10, 5, 1 = 16 (3d10)

>QM rolling luck

>>2871143
Ouch, apparently not

Rolled 3, 9, 6 = 18 (3d10)

>>2871147
>And for Lille

>>2871147
Oh no.. we fragged Nanao and shunsui didn't we?

Okay, so I've resolved the exact results behind the proverbial screen, fudging them ever so slightly in your benefit. But this one's a bit of a doozy.
>writing

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>>2871207
This is gonna be amazing to read.

>>2871151
At least lille did pretty shit too

>>2871207
You decide to finish this in one shot.

Gathering all of the energy you can muster on short notice, you begin to chant as you reach out with outstretched fingers. “Akirashi Shunkō!”

The power surges through your body like a rippling explosion, maintaining your Bankai while actively taking control of the divine reiatsu it releases. When you're using it like this, you can still cast kidō despite the fact that your own power rips at your body just as fast as your twin zanpakutō can knit you back together. But the pain is worth it for this sort of apocalyptic power.

“Imperishable flame, blade of ice, seal of blood, curse of the earth, promise of Heaven!”

“No!” the Lille-flamingos screech in unison. “Nononononono...”

You sidestep easily, weaving your way through the incoming charges with no effort wasted at all. Your body practically moves before you're even aware that it's responding, your body moves only as far as it must. This battle is already over.

“Arise from the cold black tide, descend with a crash that shakes the world asunder!”

“I said no!!” Lille roars.

“And I say yes!” you roar back. “Hadō 99: Goryūtenmetsu!”

The entire structure of the Dangai seems to buckle.

“You fool!” the chickens scream hysterically. “You've doomed us all! Your arrogance has...”

But he never finishes the thought, as the five massive kidō dragons you've created rip through his many bodies, sucking what's left through massive gaps in the fabric of the universe where your attack has ripped through into the extraplanar void.

“Not good...” you realize, turning back towards the living world and running as fast as you can. You come close to outrunning it the whole way, only to find one final obstruction.

“I will not let you escape!” the last of the Lille-birds cries, wrapping its neck around your right ankle. “You will be purged from existence here!”

“I refuse!” you shout back, severing the head with a manifested blade and sprinting the last hundred meters or so through the Dangai in a single step.
>1/2

>>2871266
Di-did we just destroy the Dangai?

>>2871282
I think we just destabilized this section of it, for the time being. Probably. Hopefully.

>>2871266
>>2871289
>>2871282
This is like a out-run the fireball sequence except with more extradimensional fuckery.

>inb4 Lillie survives, but he is now forever a birb

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>>2871266
You're not sure how long you spend drifting on the border between consciousness and death.

But eventually you do come around, finding yourself in an open field. It's not unlike the rolling hills and fields of some of the outer Rukon districts, where people aren't struggling to scrape out a living in the streets and where instead nature can still exist.

The real question though is where is this field, exactly?

“Tenkotsuki,” you grumble. “Care to set me up with a body?”

“It would be my pleasure, Lady Riku,” she replies, sounding just as worse for wear as your own voice does.

After a few moments of vertigo as a physical body is constructed from the matter around you to conform to your spiritual body, you stretch a little to get used to the sudden sense of confinement.

“Might I suggest finding a road?” Tenkotsuki offers.

Having no realistic alternative, you walk towards the nearest treeline. Nestled just back up under the trees is a dirt pathway, which seems fairly well traveled despite a lack of any obvious travelers within view. So you follow it. You follow it for about a half hour of running, which even in your current form is far faster than any human could ever hope to achieve, until you come to a river.

Following that river leaves you with a sinking feeling, the sense that you had already suspected the outcome you find.

It's a village. One the likes of which Japan has not seen for centuries.

>Enter the village, ask around for basic information. Where is this? What year is it?
>Try to get through into the Soul Society, or hell even Hueco Mundo. It may be a terrible idea if what you suspect is true, but you need answers.
>Ask the nearest villager which way to Kyoto. In this situation, the only one you can trust is your 'mother', Inari herself.
>Other?

>>2871312
>Enter the village, ask around for basic information. Where is this? What year is it?
OH SHIT. WE WENT BACK IN TIME.
inb4 Riku concieves her lineage by fucking a local village boy.

>>2871312
>Enter the village, ask around for basic information. Where is this? What year is it?

>>2871312
>>Ask the nearest villager which way to Kyoto. In this situation, the only one you can trust is your 'mother', Inari herself.
Reverse Samurai Jack

>>2871312
>Enter the village, ask around for basic information. Where is this? What year is it?

>>2871312
>>Ask the nearest villager which way to Kyoto. In this situation, the only one you can trust is your 'mother', Inari herself.
Something tells me getting in contact with Soul Society is a baaaaaad idea. Seemingly unaffiliated Captain-level Soul just knocking on the door? Oooph.

>>2871312
>>Ask the nearest villager which way to Kyoto. In this situation, the only one you can trust is your 'mother', Inari herself.

>>2871312
>Ask the nearest villager which way to Kyoto. In this situation, the only one you can trust is your 'mother', Inari herself.

>>2871312
>>Enter the village, ask around for basic information. Where is this? What year is it?
...oh shit

>>2871312
>Enter the village, ask around for basic information. Where is this? What year is it?

>performance check
>3d10 best of four

Rolled 8, 9, 5 = 22 (3d10)

>>2871401
I think we've hit an ending boyos.

Rolled 9, 7, 1 = 17 (3d10)

>>2871401
Hello fellow peasants, I am a real human peasant just like you

Rolled 8, 1, 1 = 10 (3d10)

>>2871401

Rolled 9, 8, 3 = 20 (3d10)

>>2871401

Rolled 5, 5, 4 = 14 (3d10)

>>2871401

Why do I get the feeling that this is a possible ending of this quest?

>>2871401
You carefully approach the town, very much on edge given what you think must be happening.

A reasonably well-dressed man in a yukata is sitting on a bench drinking tea, and so you take a seat on the bench next to his. He's a bit older, with a bald spot on the top of his head and obvious wrinkles setting in.

“Lovely weather we're having,” he greets you, looking up at the beautiful blue skies. “A good day for good tea.”

“It would be, if I had time to enjoy it,” you sigh.

“In the end we have nothing but our time,” the old man offers thoughtfully. “And too many ways we could decide to spend it.”

That's... actually quite profound. “You're right, of course. I'm a little lost at the moment, could you spare some of your time to help me find my way again?”

“I would be happy to,” he replies, setting aside his tea and waiting for you to speak.

“What town is this?” you ask.

“This is Hirakawa-mura,” he replies calmly. “Best fishing in Tokaidō.”

A small river called Hirakawa used to exist in the area where Toykō now stands, flowing into Edō-wan, and Tokyō itself falls within the area which used to be called Tokaidō. But it hasn't been called that for at least six centuries.

Which isn't good news... crushing news, actually.

“And if you don't mind me asking a strange question,” you press, “do you know what year it is? Last town I stopped in hadn't gotten the most recent Imperial decree.”

You hope that lie will hold up, and thankfully the old gentleman is in a jovial mood. “Well, that does happen sometimes, especially since the last one was fairly recent. It's the second year of Tennin, by decree of the Emperor Toba.”

Toba... that places you in the very early 1100's.

Fuck.

>Thank the old man for his help, you're... not sure what to do with that information.
>Ask the old man where the nearest major shrine is.
>Now you NEED to speak with Inari. Ask him how to get to Kyōto from here.
>You think this is reason enough to sneak through into the royal realm to find Inari yourself.
>Other?

>>2871488
>Now you NEED to speak with Inari. Ask him how to get to Kyōto from here.
Wait. If I remember correctly, this is some time before Tenkotsuki got murdered.

>>2871488
>Now you NEED to speak with Inari. Ask him how to get to Kyōto from here.

>>2871488
>>Now you NEED to speak with Inari. Ask him how to get to Kyōto from here.

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>>2871437
It is if you give up, or die a sudden death.
The world only ends for the dead ones.
Don't accept the end

>>2871488
>Thank the old man for his help, you're... not sure what to do with that information.
>Ask the old man where the nearest major shrine is.
>Now you NEED to speak with Inari. Ask him how to get to Kyōto from here.

>>2871488
>>Now you NEED to speak with Inari. Ask him how to get to Kyōto from here.

>>2871488
>Now you NEED to speak with Inari. Ask him how to get to Kyōto from here.
Well, that's certainly quite the amount of time we've been sent back.

>>2871437
nah, we're fine. Inari can probably send us back, if not her maybe amaterasu okami

>>2871512
Well, bleach happened in what, 2001? this is like 900 years way back. I think it's also the time before Tenkotsuki got murdered. This gives us an opportunity to set things right, but it's also a one-way street to erase Riku/Rosa/Tenkotsuki by way of Time Paradox.

>>2871525
Nope, this is likely the time we die, our ego that is.
This is where and when it all began in a sense.
I think it's time.

>>2871488
>Thank the old man for his help, you're... not sure what to do with that information.
So this is like... way before everyone we've ever met was even born, except for the few dinos on the captain roster. And the Royal Guard
>Ask the old man where the nearest major shrine is.

>>2871543
it's more or less frustrating. We're denied that climatic battle. desu, I don't want this to end.

>>2871488
>>Ask the old man where the nearest major shrine is.

>>2871565
Does anyone?
It's only the ending if you give up hope.
Do everything you can, and if you can't do anything more try something else.

We chose this, we can choose our way out of it.

File: what the fuck.jpg (40 KB, 600x450)

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Wait.... what if WE end up being the ones who set up Tamano no Mae to be murdered, thereby starting the process that eventually led to our own "birth" to avoid some sort of time paradox?

>>2871576
in terms of charted territory and knowledge. We're on Starship Enterprise. We have some prior knowledge. we just don't know what to do with it. We could save Tenkotsuki, but end up erasing ourselves via time paradox, or we could take past!Tenkotuski's place in the murder and theoretically go on new game+. But that's a whole another ball game.
We honestly need to discuss our options as a time traveler.

Didn't Yoruichi say that Riku has about another Millennia of spiritual life left in her?

>>2871586
but that would still lead to the same scenario. If we did, then we would've effectively created a stable time loop, and the parts that escape the loop effectively spell doom for the future since Riku wasn't there to stop Aizen having accidentally time traveled back 900 years.

>>2871590
Riku herself has whatever time you say she has.
Remember how it was said that the three identities would blend together after some unknown time?
That's another possibility.

Focus on getting back on track, where you are needed.

>>2871488
>>Now you NEED to speak with Inari. Ask him how to get to Kyōto from here.

>>2871611
it might be that past!Riku might end up being Inari. You know during the time in the modern day where future!Riku meets mom(?) who is infact Riku herself.

File: 1c45o793u_thinking.gif (1.54 MB, 480x264)

1.54 MB GIF

>>2871633

>>2871633
God, I hate time travel stuff.
Having to peek at a world's foundation, branches and roots will never cease to be mentally exhausting.
That and guessing, lots of guessing.

I guess we just have to play, see what the QM gives us, input whatever we must.
Freaking out about possibilities will leave you shellshocked.
You'll become a filthy NEET never leaving your home yakno'?

>>2871488
“One final question, if you don't mind.”

“I don't,” the man nods politely.

“I'm trying to get to Kyoto,” you explain. “How would I go about doing that?”

“Yeah, what you want is the Tōkaidō circuit, it'll take you all the way east to Yamashiro.”

“And I get there by...”

The old man points back the way you came. “Head that way to the first river crossing, then turn left once you cross the bridge. Head back along the river until the first crossroads. Turn right, and that will lead you to the Tokaidō circuit road. You want to turn east on that road, which will be to the right.”

“Thank you very kindly, sir,” you bow politely.

He returns your bow with a smile. “Of course, young miss. Too few youngsters these days are willing to ask for help, and too few of us oldsters are willing to offer in my book. So it was a pleasure to do things the way they should be done for once.”

You wonder what becomes of this man, in the future you call home.

Well, you'll probably never know nor will it make a difference even if you did... so you put that thought out of your mind for now. Instead, you should focus on how to solve the problem at hand.

You need to speak with your divine mother, and there's one place to do that which comes to mind.
>1/2

>>2871686
Bye old man, hope you have an alright time left in the mortal world.

>>2871686
>>2871690
>inb4 it's Shunsui

So while riku would technically have a limited lifespan, she is on the road for gaining her ninth tail and thus immortality right? We could probably spend 900 years training in the shadows if it really came down to it.

>>2871706
I know riku could do it, but time changes you, so she would defeat aizen and anyone else with ease but no one might be able to connect with her anymore
A personal tragedy

>>2871715
True, im all for getting back timewise, but this situation isnt the end of the world.

>>2871720
To be honest, we have to try obviously, but there might be a chance that there is no other way

File: inariyamawayshrine.jpg (1.51 MB, 2592x1456)

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>>2871686
The shrine at Inariyama isn't far, at least it isn't for you once you reduce your false physical body into a pile of grasses and leaves. It was placed on its current location in 816, so it's been a fixture in the area around Kyoto for almost two hundred years by this point. The main honden hasn't been built yet, and the famous thousand torii won't exist for another five hundred years. But you still recognize it when you arrive, you still feel oddly at home despite all the differences.

This place is as open to you as the doors of the Shihōin manor will be a long, long ways in the future.

Only a few of the buildings are in the “correct” places though, mostly the ones further back up the mountainside from where the honden and the tower gate will be.

You find one of them by a small lake, a cozy-looking shrine in vermilion paint with a small graveyard and only two torii to its name.

Under the bamboo and wiry maples, you invite yourself into the sacred precinct and kneel calmly on the tatami.

>Release a burst of divine reiryoku. That will get her attention.
>Make an offering and a prayer, like any respectful pilgrim.
>Bankai. Present her with the inescapable facts of the situation.
>Other?

>>2871771
One after the other, until we get a response, begin with the prayer

>>2871771
>Make an offering and a prayer, like any respectful pilgrim.
>Release a burst of divine reiryoku. That will get her attention.

How about showing respect and then getting her attention?

>>2871771
>Make an offering and a prayer, like any respectful pilgrim.

>>2871771
>>Make an offering and a prayer, like any respectful pilgrim.

>>2871771
>Make an offering and a prayer, like any respectful pilgrim.
This should be enlightening

>>2871782
I would support this... with the escalation from Prayer into Reiryoku into GOD MODE.
>>2871771

Rolled 10, 7, 6, 5 = 28 (4d10)

>3d10, best of four

Rolled 4, 9, 2 = 15 (3d10)

>>2871823
Hopefully this goes well.

Rolled 10, 6, 6 = 22 (3d10)

>>2871823
Was about to freak out, noticed the 4

Rolled 4, 9, 6 = 19 (3d10)

>>2871823

Rolled 5, 8, 10 = 23 (3d10)

>>2871823

Rolled 9, 3, 5 = 17 (3d10)

>>2871823
First impressions ho

Rolled 10, 7, 5 = 22 (3d10)

>>2871823

So, I'm sure some of you thought of it, and at least one comment brushed against the topic, but spending the next few hundred years becoming more godlike until we end up at the point we left the present and just continue where we left off with nine tails and as much practice and gains as we were able to cram in, is looking like an option at this point.

Maybe it won't stay that way, but worth noting.

>>2871823
>>2871844
Bloody hell, we are praying the shit out of it and Inari is listening only to us apparently

>>2871903
Are you aware there is a thing like listening too much?
This case might probably be fine tho.

>>2871903
>inb4 900 years of s-mothering

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>>2871823
You manage to light a single stick of incense before you're joined by Inari herself.

“That was quick,” you bow graciously, before sitting in seiza near the middle of the room. “Thank you for coming here, Inari Ōkami.

Tenkotsuki's mother, whom you've met before, has a much sterner expression on her face despite seeming otherwise the same. “You are clearly blood of my blood, and yet I do not recognize you.”

“My name is Kusajishi Riku,” you explain. “I am... or rather I will be... the Shintai of Inari no Tsubu, your daughter aspect who is not yet born.”

“I see,” Inari nods once. “That would seem to be the most reasonable explanation.”

… is it really though?

“I currently serve as a Captain among the shinigami, and was involved in a fierce battle in the Dangai which ended in my being thrown backwards in time, into the living world,” you continue to explain the details to the deity. “In my own time we have a cordial relationship, despite...”

“Yes?” Inari presses. “Continue that thought.”

“Despite what has happened with your daughter,” you continue. “Who took the name Tamamo no Mae.”

“So something quite dramatic must have taken place,” she acknowledges. “Which accounts for why you are wearing her as a sword.”

“She is a part of my soul,” you admit, “and much of the reason why I exist in the first place.”

“Fascinating,” Inari muses. “I had always wondered what might happen if someone of sufficient import and power were accidentally sent back in time. I take it you did not seek me simply out of a sense of propriety? Announcing your presence?”

“You're correct,” you nod softly. “The part of me that is your daughter sees you as the only being whom we can trust in this situation with absolute confidence.”

“And what is it you desire?”

>I want to find a way to return to my own time, my time needs me.
>I want to use this time to sharpen my skills for when my time comes again.
>I want to use this to change the course of events.
>I simply want to hear your opinion before deciding on anything.

>>2871939
>>I simply want to hear your opinion before deciding on anything.
There's time, we should have some tea.

>>2871939
>>I want to find a way to return to my own time, my time needs me.

>>2871939
>>I simply want to hear your opinion before deciding on anything.
"How badly would I fuck shit up?"

>>2871939
>>I simply want to hear your opinion before deciding on anything.
I'm okay with stalling here.

>>2871939
>>I want to use this time to sharpen my skills for when my time comes again.

>>2871939
>>I want to use this time to sharpen my skills for when my time comes again.
There is a HUGE opportunity here.

>>2871968
And there's a HUGE amount of time to decide.

>>2871939
>I simply want to hear your opinion before deciding on anything.
Lets list options before we rush into a plan.

If we can time travel back without a set date to start it, then I say we spend some time trainning in seclusion and then head back.

>>2871939

>I simply want to hear your opinion before deciding on anything.

>>2871989
I feel very weird about this, we are about to give someone knowledge of what's to be.
They may act upon this, especially since it's her daughter we are talking about.
Maaaybe we should let Tenkotsuki do the talking here?

However, I'm thinking as a human would think, what about a god?

>>2871996
We don't really need to tell her anything more than vagueness, she should trust us as her technical daughter and understand that time weirdness does not need poking more than it already is.

>>2871961
This, pretty much

>>2872009
Even vagueness implies danger when dealing with foreknowledge.
The world may not be the same because of this very small exchange.
Or maybe the world will remain the same due to this event always existing, to begin with.

>>2872019
Life is always dangerous. Unless we tell her specifics in time and place "your daughter will face danger" means fuck all in the grand scheme of things.

Again, without specifics we are safe-ish.

>>2872025
I guess you're right, worrying about it is a moot point now.

>3d10, best of four

2,000 years, people. It would drive them insane.

>>2871996
I can only assume a god's perception of time and reality is a bit different than a mortal's. If anyone is qualified to weigh in on and deal with time shenanigans, it would have to be a god. They don't have to deal with consequences, they are the ones who decide consequences. Reality does what they say, to an extent at least. 'so kinda what makes them gods. They operate on a different set of rules.

This doesn't mean they are incapable of error or hubris, mind you, just that they are professional reality meddlers.

Rolled 1, 5, 1 = 7 (3d10)

>>2872045

Rolled 1, 5, 10 = 16 (3d10)

>>2872045
GIB INSIGHT

Rolled 1, 3, 5 = 9 (3d10)

>>2872045
Good advice, please

Rolled 5, 7, 7 = 19 (3d10)

>>2872045

>>2872048
And surgeon can still make mistakes, but if you've got a brain tumor, you'll still probably want them to try.

I like to think of gods as reality surgeons. Hah, imagine what their malpractice insurance must be like.

Rolled 10, 10, 2 = 22 (3d10)

>>2872045

>>2872045
“I would simply like to hear your view on what I should do,” you admit quietly. “I'm angry right now, and confused... I'm lost in a situation that I can't see the way out of. I'll even admit, I'm a little scared that I'll never see the people I cherish most again, or that when I do I'll be a very different person when that happens.”

“We've been robbed of the chance to grow together, to share our lives. And that's put me in a position where I don't trust myself to make the best decisions.”

Inari is silent for a moment, but when she does eventually reply the tone you're more used to hearing from her has returned somewhat. It's firm, but reassuring and sensitive at the same time.

“I understand your predicament,” she begins. “And I will help you. But if all that you say is true heed my warning: you cannot change the course of events. There is still a chance that you can return to the world you know, and how much you change between then and now is up to the strength of your own heart and that alone.”

“But if you act recklessly, if you encourage a change in your timeline? Then your future will truly be lost. And even though we have only just met... no mother would want her daughter to suffer like that.”

Even so, this is the same deity who...

“How developed are you skills?”

Your train of thought derails. “Seven tails in full release, I feel like I'm on the cusp of eight were I to really push myself.”

“Then my advice is to wait for a century and a half or so,” Inari suggests. “Learn the true limits of your own strength and limitations, put some of the time to use, and make a decision for how best to ensure that the future you wish to see again will come to pass when you have attained the venerated rank of tenkō.”

Speaking of which...

“Thank you for your wise words,” you nod resolutely. “I appreciate your insight... and the care you've shown towards us. But I have a favor I must ask, and it won't be a pleasant duty. But only you are capable of doing this, and you must do it.”

“I am listening,” Inari replies stoically. “What is your request?”

“When Tamamo no Mae flees to the living world, to the Heian court,” you insist firmly, disbelieving your own words as you speak them and sensing Tenkotsuki growing increasingly restless within your heart, “you must furnish Ichibē Hyosube with a sekki-stone arrowhead, without mentioning me by name. He will then give that arrowhead to a mortal hunter, who will kill your daughter.”

“If you don't do this, it will cause a paradox. I'm sorry, but if you consider it carefully this isn't a 'request'. My coming back like this has made it a necessity.”

Even Tenkotsuki silently acknowledges the reality of this situation. There's no room for debate.

“You must ensure that Tamamo no Mae dies.”

>>2872127
What ungrateful children we are, asking to be killed by our own parent.
Ignorance can be a bliss.

>>2872127
And on that bombshell, it's time to end. Thank you so much for joining us, hope you had fun, and good night!

We'll be back next weekend to pick up where we left off.

>>2872135
Motherfucker. So Riku literally engineered her own birth by her divine half's death.

>>2872142
That's a savant for ya.

>>2872142
Yup. Who knows how it started off, but now it essentially constitutes a closed causal loop. The way Riku is familiar with the events is caused by Riku's insistence nearly 900 years before that the events must happen in a certain way.

>>2872152
Did you plan for this?

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>>2872135
So Riku's entire spacetime existence is maintained by this singular enclosed causality stable time loop.
>>2872152
Those Sci-fi novels Riku read before she went back in time really came in handy.

>>2872155
Who the fuck knows? Even I can't even conceive of King planning this time-quackery contingency out.
>>2872146

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>>2872160
WE NEED A BIGGER THINK

>>2872135
This is all kinds of confusing, I love it. Was NOT expecting it the quest to go this direction at all

>>2872155
I was aware that space-time fuckery was a possibility from the beginning, as it was discussed several times in canon.
The sweeper never worked as intended in canon because of Kisuke's fuckery, and Gin speculated that Aizen destroying it might have been a very dangerous thing. And ever since Riku+Yoruichi tried to poke their heads out into the living world during the invasion arc and noticed the time difference I've been planning for the possibility of a major timefuckery event at some key junction. You just happened to walk across the lines I set in advance that would trigger this outcome.

>>2872167
well elements of time traveling shenanigans have been present at parts of the quest. it was even a plot point in canon bleach when Strawberry and crew went to rescue Rukia.
It's just that Riku turned the Time-quackery up to 15.

>>2872173
>>2872176
Honestly, the stable time loop was the most plausible of all the alternatives.
All else could crumble like a space-time cookie where there another way.

Well at least there's no way Aizen could account for Riku suddenly gaining all the time in the world to achieve 9 tails and practice extensively with her fully formed powers.

>>2872197
Neither could we account for him sucking up Juha Bach like a crack street whore on a Friday coke binge and gaining his powers. But here we are.
Touche you smug fucking keikaku man.

There was a omake about Riku being fucking strong due to time fuckery some time ago tho.

>>2872214
>100 years in Jinzen

>>2872214
mfw someone remembers that
yes, that was deliberate foreshadowing

>>2872226
Some memories stick better than others.
Selective, depending on your viewpoint.

>>2872226
I think I also remember a phrase in the "Scientist Riku" Omake that goes by "Divinity creates itself". This is also relevant to Riku.

>>2872250
That does spark some memories.
Was it about the one where she was writing and musing to herself?

>mfw people are picking up all of the hints
They're sprinkled through there. I was hoping not to be too obvious that this was a possibility I was planning for, but to arrange it so it didn't feel like it came out of nowhere if it did come up.

>>2872266
It's the slow burn kind of insight enlightenment.
And now anons are going to comb through all of the archives and omakes to find all the other hints.

What you have written here is basically the quest equivalent of the plot twist of the 6th sense.

>>2872266
If people can make the connections it means the foreshadowing was done correctly.
Show, not tell. It can be very hard to make the reader pay enough attention to what's being shown in such a manner and yet have it be dismissible.
There is a method to the madness that is Riku, and that madness worked in your favor whilst dropping those moments.
Disguising it as savant weirdness was clever if intended. Or a happy coincidence if not.

>>2872284
There's definitely method to Riku's madness, and we haven't really even begun to unpack that statement.

We'll get there though.

>>2872302
Anon guesses, a QM knows, the dice bridges the two and the shitposting frames it beautifully with a nice pink bowtie.
This is why I like quests.

Have a sleep now

Omake Suggestion:

Instead of finding herself in early 1100's Japan, Inari Riku finds herself summoned to a Holy Grail War.

>>2872619
kek. But what class is Riku?

>>2872799
Well like most she could be several classes

Assassin
Saber
Caster
[possibly Ruler too

>>2872799
Probably Assassin or saber. Tenko is either Caster or Ruler. Rosa fits an Archer or Avenger. Together, they make a bullshit class.

>>2872841
Riku's noble phantasm might as well be the ability to change classes

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>>2872847
Probably more of a personal skill with her NP being Goddess form. Though since Tenko is also Tamamo no Mae, is she, and by extension, Riku, a Tamamo face?

>>2872916
no. Riku must be a completely separate entity from that Tamamo.

>>2872799
>>2872828
>>2872916
Riku (Foreigner)
Parameters -
Strength: (B), Endurance: (B), Agility: (A), Mana: (B), Luck: (C), Noble Phantasm: (EX)

Skills -
Divinity: (A/EX), Independent Manifestation: (A), Item Creation: (C), Magic Resistance: (B/EX), Mana Burst: (A/EX), Presence Concealment: (B)

Noble Phantasm -
Zan-Ken-So-Ki (A – Magecraft): the art and technique of applying the Mana Burst skill in swordsmanship, fist-fighting, rapid movement, and magecraft such that basic combat more closely resembles the use of a Noble Phantasm in terms of power and scale.

Tenkotsuki (EX – Conceptual): while Riku may create strong swords effortlessly through her skills, her true Noble Phantasm is the divine power of Tamamo no Mae in the form of a number of spectral tails. As this is the same power which was once relinquished by the Caster Tamamo, albeit from another world, the two could be said to share a bond of sorts. Use of this skill increases Riku's Divinity, Magic Resistance, and Mana Burst skills to the rank of EX while in effect, greatly enhancing all of her abilities.

>basically, her Parameters when standing still or trying to avoid detection would be nothing special in terms of Heroic Servants
>but her Skills compensate for her lower Parameters, and her Noble Phantasms would place her at the highest tier of bullshittery
>but without the terminal case of narcissism that defeated Gil

>>2873935
so basically a better Gilgamesh. I LOVE IT. would Riku deliver ass beatings to the babylonian man?

>>2873935
also, what would be Riku’s reaction to seeing Nasuverse’s Tamamo and her memery alts like Tamamo-cat?

>>2872619
i can imagine getting Riku getting summoned for a grail war but still have access to Seireitei. and she doesn’t have to suffer the Fish out of water syndrome.

>>2873935
So, Servant, why do *you* want The Holy Grail?

Riku: "Ehhh... Seems like something that Yoruichi would like for her collection."

>>2873935
This is a nice idea for an omake, if only to see how Gilgamesh reacts. Although I wouldn't mind seeing a duel between Riku and Artoria/EMIYA.

>>2873935
“For the elements, silver and iron.
For the foundation, stone and the Archduke of Contracts.
For the ancestor, my great master, Schweinorg.
Close the gates of the cardinal directions.
Come forth from the Crown, and follow the forked road leading to the Kingdom.
Fill, fill, fill, fill, fill.
Repeat five times, but when each is filled destroy it.
Set.
Heed my words: my will creates your body, and your sword creates my destiny.
If you heed the Grail's call and obey my will and reason, then answer me.
I hereby swear that I shall be all the good in the world,
That I shall defeat all evil in the world.
You seven heavens, clad in the three great words of power,
Come forth from the circle of binding, Guardian of Scales!”

A burst of arcane power, a wave of pressure, a scattering of papers and leather-bound tomes.
>1/?

>>2874104
“It... it was perfect!” the mage declares triumphantly. “I even remembered to check the clocks in the mansion, it was definitely 2am... the peak of my abilities. I had to have...”

Then she looks around awkwardly. “Wait, where is...”

A loud crash from another room sends her scurrying up the basement stairs, and after struggling for a while with the door she shoulder-bashes her way into the sitting room. Or rather what's left of the sitting room.

Upon a pile of broken bookshelves and cabinets, upholstered with a torn red window curtain, a woman sits calmly with her eyes closed. Her dark hair is tied in a ponytail, and her black leather boots are firmly planted on the most expensive rug in the building while her elbows rest on her knees. Her hakama are black, as is the close-fitting sleeveless suit she wears under it, which displays her natural curves and her muscular tone. Over that is a simple white scarf like a shemagh, wrapped about her neck and shoulders.

“Not a Saber?” the mage muses, disappointment creeping into her tone. “What is this feeling...”

The interloper seems to stare at the backs of her hands, where two small, circular amethyst gems glisten.

“I get it,” the woman responds, eyes narrowing. “This situation... it's a nuisance.”

“Hey!” the young mage protests. “Are you even my servant? Don't just ignore me!”

“You would be my summoner,” the woman realizes, looking up as if noticing the girl for the first time. In doing so, she reveals a third gem set into her forehead, like a third eye. “I suppose that makes me your Servant, then.”

“What class are you?” the girl presses. “Answer.”
>2/3

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>>2874105
“Foreigner,” the Servant replies, her glare falling on the summoner like a load of bricks. The girl's breath catches in her throat under the sudden, intense pressure in the air. “You may call me by my given name if you desire, it's Riku.”

“Riku...” the girl repeats. “That name has no meaning to me... but you say you're my Servant?”

“In form,” Riku replies sternly. “You know what a Foreigner is, right? I may not belong to this world, but even while bound by its rules I don't actually need you or your mana to act. Even giving you the chance to speak is a courtesy, not a compulsion.”

“Hey, what's with you?” the mage demands, flashing the back of her own hand where three purple gems on a silver ring are visible. “Do you intend to cause problems for me from the start?”

“You've been given three wishes, miss,” Riku replies with a stern glare that causes her summoner to falter, raising her three fingers and dropping them one at a time as she continues. “Those three wishes are the only power you have over me... and when they are expended... there won't be a single thing in this universe capable of controlling me.”

Then she looks away. “Use them sparingly and wisely... Master.”

“Does that mean...”

“No,” Riku interrupts. “But while I won't promise to follow all your orders like some slave, even an uncontrollable Servant like me knows she's better off with a partner. So for the coming war, I'll take your words into consideration.”

“And what is my master's name?”

After a pause, the dark-haired girl answers. “Tōsaka Rin. And as my first order to you, clean up the mess you made.”

After rolling her eyes, Riku sets to work hefting the heavy wooden furniture back into what she assumes was its original configuration.
>3/3

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>>2874104
>>2874105
>>2874112
>I wish I was at home cuddling Yoruichi.
>The Ichigo expy is too loud
>My feet hurt
>I want Yoru's chinese food
>The whiskey's not even good

So what are the odds that we'll meet Yhwach now that we are in the past?

>>2874155
Jesus in Japan? More likely than you'd think.
Don't know about the time here tho.
He probably sleep now

>>2874155
not sure.

On the other hand, Riku and Tenkotsuki are gonna have such an awkward and strained relationship from knowing that tenkotsuki could’ve lived a better mortal life, but also know that tenko has to die in order for Riku to be born
>>2874112
now i kinda want to see Riku interacting with the rest of the fate cast and ‘gently’ curbstomping the other servants. Except Gil, he gets the full divine smackdown of humility.

>>2874160
In case people aren't aware there's a spot in Japan, in Hiroshima prefecture iirc, where Jesus supposedly settled after escaping the Crucifixion by switching places with his Japanese twin brother.

Which before you laugh, it pays to remember that old-school Mormonism believes that the Native Americans are the lost tribes of Israel among other things. So there are plenty of people who believe strange things.

>>2874164
I'd imagine she'd appreciate Arturia's sincerity and almost single-minded dedication to her ideals, for one thing. But she and Gil would get along about as well as oil and water.

>>2874181
it’s to be expected. golden boy’s arrogance reminds her of a certain arrogant asshole who nearly accidentally planar destruction and domination

>>2874203
But Aizen did nothing wrong.

>>2874181
Everyone, even most mormons know their religion is dumb bullshit.

>>2874181
If Riku and Yoruichi hadn’t split up, would they have been thrown into the past together?

>>2874181
>But she and Gil would get along about as well as oil and water.
More like matter and antimatter

>>2874104
Who does Riku try to mother in this setting tho?

>>2876487
Her "master" obviously.

>>2876487
Sakura

>>2876487
She really can't help herself can she...

>>2875034
Maybe, maybe not. A lot of things could have happened on the "road not taken".

>>2876487
I'd imagine Rin, to a degree.

>>2876487
I bet she calls Shirou “Ichigo” on accident

>>2877653
>"accident"

>>2877653
>>2877771
>"You there, Red Ichigo. Quit pretending you're a moron and supply Saber with mana already so I can kill her with a clean conscience."
>"What do you mean how do you do that."
>"...you're not pretending are you?"

>>2879063
....could you do a part two of the omake where she fights lancer in place of archer

>>2876733
wait until Riku hears that Shirou does the whole “mana transfer” to saber

Ahem. Describe Emiya Shirou as a character like you are telling someone who has never even heard of fsn. Try to come up with character traits that most people familiar with the show would likely accept.

Don't bother with describing his appearance, it's character traits that are the focus.

Aaaand go.

>>2881258
Painfully Naive.

>>2881258
He's a well-meaning idiot whose entire life has been consumed from an early age by a simplistic dream of "saving everyone", which he got secondhand from his adoptive father who died a broken shell of a human being. Consequently he lacks any significant emotional bonds or desires of his own that would give him a sense of perspective, and he completely lacks the power and influence he'd need to make that borrowed dream into a reality. He's never even stopped to consider how hypocritical it is to want to "save everyone" without having anything of his own that he'd want to save, without knowing or even necessarily caring what was important to other people.

On the positive side, that's Archer talking. Shirou himself is at a point in his life where he still vehemently rejects the sense of despair and futility that consumed his alternate future-self, and was quick to learn from Archer's failure rather than be crushed by it. And I really do have to mention Archer there, because they're such important foils for each other: one forced to confront the man he used to be when he still had hopes and dreams, one forced to confront the man he might one day become when met with a complicated reality that challenges his ideals.

>>2881341
I'm honestly surprised that that sort of interaction where a man meets his actual future self doesn't cause an extreme time paradox.

How badly would the world collapse if there were two Rikus in the same place one who's still a scrappy girl/lieutenant and the other a full blown tenko?

Which gives me an idea for an omake: What if Riku had a twin? Fraternal or identical it don't matter.

>>2881394
The Holy Grail and time don't work like that in the setting. It's one of those branching paradox-free timelines, and although Archer would probably love nothing more than to never exist in the first place his attempts to murder the shit out of Shirou were from a firm belief that this Shirou should never have the chance to become like Archer himself. Basically, to save ONE timeline from his own mistakes.

In SSQ, nobody knows. Interference COULD be dangerous.

>will pick up again on Saturday, same time as usual.

>>2881341
I would have gone with "platonic example of the paradox of the well intentioned fool." I.E. is it 'evil' when tragedy results from a basically moral person's incompetence or ignorance and good intentions."

Because face it: the kid is beyond naive, arguably mentally subnormal, and a lot of messed up stuff happens as a result of, arguably, predictable consequences of his actions.

Also he takes patronizing misogyny to absurd, moronic extremes and confuses it with morally upstanding behaviour.

>>2885665
Wait, patronizing misogyny?

>>2886488
When read a certain (and not unreasonable) way Shirou comes off as a bit of a patronizing cunt towards Saber. Especially since she's a wrecking ball of a Servant under a proper Master, and spends all of Fate being hamstrung by Shirou himself (albeit unwittingly).

I tend to give him the benefit of the doubt though and just settle on him being painfully ignorant.

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>>2874112
The situation facing Emiya Shirō and Saber is dire.

Shirō is currently watching helplessly as is servant is hard-pressed by her dark-haired opponent, who blocks Saber's invisible blade and bats the smaller swordswoman around effortlessly with her bare hands. Preventing him from acting is the woman's Master, none other than his own classmate Tōsaka Rin.

“Hey, what's wrong?” Rin demands, glaring over her shoulder as she points her palm straight at her classmate's head.

“So,” Riku asks, hand grasped firmly around Saber's wrist as she throws an elbow strike at her throat. “Have you noticed?”

“Noticed... what?” Saber grunts, having twisted in place so that the bevor on her breastplate takes the blow.

Riku blinks in disbelief as she allows Saber to take a few steps back. “So your master is just that much of a failure?”

“What are you implying!?” Saber counters angrily, sweeping her invisible blade over Riku's shoulders as she swiflty ducks under the attack, turning in place and landing a powerful kick against the side of Saber's breastplate.

“I think you know full well what I'm saying,” Riku asserts. “The reasons we're 'holding back' are very different after all.”

“So are you going to answer me,” Rin begins to ask, “or are you just going to keep...”

Her words are cut short as two things happen in the span of an instant. A spear-wielding figure in blue practically materializes as if already in mid-charge, his red weapon aimed straight at Shirō's chest. And in the same instant a blade materializes in Riku's hand, pushing that spear to one side. The lancer ducks instantly under Riku's arm as she sweeps for his face, then catches her knee as she follows through with her momentum.

But finally, when she extends her leg to turn that knee strike into a sweeping kick, the attacker actually takes the hit in the chin.

He manages to roll in midair with the force of the blow, repositioning himself and landing solidly on his feet.

Shirō stares numbly as it begins to register how close he came to death.

“That was a good reaction!” the newcomer grins, spinning his spear and bringing it back into a ready stance. “But I'm a bit confused, why're you protecting this kid? Is he your Master, or is his Servant the woman who didn't move?”

“I'm under no obligation to answer that,” Riku shakes her head.

“I suppose I should've expected it wouldn't be that easy.”
>1/?

>>2886546
“You attacked a Master instead of their Servant?” Saber demands, readying herself to fight the newcomer. “How could you sink so low?”

“That's a silly question,” the man replies as he thrusts his spear at Riku again. This time she blocks with a kick, then swings her kodachi at the man who parries with the shaft of his spear.

“He came out here onto the battlefield of his own free will. He's not just an easy target, but a fair one.”

“I tend to agree,” Riku sighs.

“Then why interfere?”

“For the same reason you chose to attack at all.”

“I'm not following you,” Rin admits, narrowing her eyes.

“You're not a warrior,” Saber frowns. “Lancer, you realized that we knew you were watching and wanted to see how we responded. You were testing us.”

“And the young miss here with the swords was testing me as well,” Lancer shrugs. “You were testing how far ahead I could think.”

Riku offers a golf clap in response. “Well done. But answer me this, Cú Chulainn... how did you plan to escape?”

Lancer's eyes narrow slightly. “How?”

Riku shrugs the question off. “A lady should be able to keep her secrets.”

He simply shakes his head. “Fine, whatever. This has been a bad trade for me already, so I'm out.”

And then he's simply gone. As if he was never there in the first place.
>2/3

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>>2886549
“Damn him,” Riku grumbles. “Lancer, huh?”

Then she realizes that Saber has pointed her invisible weapon at her once more. “Give it a rest. We both know you can't win in your current state.”

“Hang on,” Rin interjects, lowering her arm. “You really aren't a magus?”

“I kept trying to tell you that,” Shirō sighs. “I have no idea what's even going on anymore, come on Tōsaka! I'm not lying!”

“I have barely any mana left,” Saber interjects, settling the question as her invisible blade apparently ceases to exist altogether. “Shirō, with no mana I'm in no position to even protect myself, let alone you.”

“So if we just wait...” Rin muses.

“The situation resolves itself,” Riku declares.

Saber clenches her fists, staring at the ground, still refusing to accept reality. “If only Shirō could...”

“He can't,” Riku asserts. “And even if he could one day you'd be putting your own goals in the hands of a boy with no common sense or practical experience. But there is one other option.”

Rin stares at her Servant in confusion. “You really think I can handle two contracts? You really have lost it, Foreigner.”

Riku shakes her head with a sly grin tugging at the corner of her mouth. “I wasn't talking about you, Rin.”

Rin's expression slowly changes to shock as she begins to realize what her Servant is proposing.

"Unless of course you can point to a rule saying that a Servant can't also be a Master?"
>3/3

>>2886557
Riku Grooming Saber when?

>>2886557
Thanks king that was pretty cool

>>2886488
Silly Saber, girls can't fight! Silly Saber . . .

>>2886557
Gotta put those centuries of rules lawyering with the celestial beurocracy to work.

Three Rules for being Riku's Servant:
>Rule #1: None of the sass
>Rule #2: You don't stab Riku in the back, and she won't stab you in the everything
>Rule #3: When Riku asks a question answer to the best of your abilities
>Addendum to Rule #3: When you ask Riku a question don't expect her answer to make sense to anyone but her

Three Rules to being Riku's Master:
>Rule #1: Riku has no Master, only a magus who she tolerates having around
>Rule #2: Riku will not follow orders, but she WILL listen to suggestions
>Addendum to Rule #2: When Riku makes a suggestion, it's for the best if you follow it
>Rule #3: No wasting Command Seals on frivolous shit

>>2887285
And let me be perfectly clear: this isn't a "down with the patriarchy" thing, it's a "How could you possibly be that oblivious to the situation to think that the only pertinent fact with this armed and armored, highly skilled, magical warrior who seems to know what is going on and what they are doing and are desperately trying to keep you alive is the fact they are a girl and therefore should not fight at all and you should fatally throw your body in harm's way and waste all her effort."

That's not even misogyny at that point it's insane.

>>2887392
Addendum to rule #3: until further notice, it is ALL frivolous shit.

>>2887403
>at that point it's insane
Shirou DID create a reality marble, so yeah. He basically IS demonstrably insane even within the confines of the setting.

>>2887416
Oh look, the underdog "flawed", "sympathetic" protagonist who has super limited unimpressive powers--no really he does, trust us--was broken-tier overpowered after all.

Sorry, that was uncalled for. It's just that typical tropes that are, normally, only mild irritants get multiplied by the Shirou factor into pure skub.

>>2887468
>>2887418
Replied to wrong post.

>>2887468
he earns the power in heaven's feel and to a lesser extent UBW after much suffering and self realization.

I still hate the red shit though, Rin should've been the protag in every route

>>2872127
The silence is deafening.

Inari Ōkami stares at you, still forming her own thoughts on the bombshell you just dropped on her. Even though she seems to have accepted what you are, and how you got to be stuck some six or seven hundred years before your own birth, what you've told her is something she cannot as easily accept.

You've told her that in order for the future to unfold as you remember, she must help in the assassination of a daughter she has not even brought into the world yet.

There's no way that she could easily accept something like that. But then again she literally just finished telling you that she would help you, and that in order to see your loved ones again you would have to ensure that your presence in the past did not change anything. It must be additionally painful for her to even consider fulfilling your request.

“You said it yourself, Inari Ōkami,” you observe. “You know what I am.”

“You ask me to seal the fate of a child I have yet to even bear,” Inari tells you sternly, eyes closed in deep thought.

You shake your head, disagreeing with her assessment. “I ask you to give the one you see before you the chance to live.”

“Only you can do this.”

It seems that despite the reality of the situation, Inari still has reservations about what you are asking her to do and your explanations of its necessity.

>Let Tenkotsuki speak for herself, swap control with her.
>Assume your fully-released state, speak to her as one being.
>Bow out for now, allow her to make up her own mind.
>Other?

>>2888961
>>Let Tenkotsuki speak for herself, swap control with her.
Full state is still part Riku. Tenko by herself will just be her.

>>2888961
>>Assume your fully-released state, speak to her as one being.
It's a new lifeform, a side has no right to speak for its entirety.

>>2888961
>Assume your fully-released state, speak to her as one being.

>>2888961
>other: Manifest Tenkotsuki beside you. both of you can speak their case together

>>2888961
>Assume your fully-released state, speak to her as one being.

>>2888961
>Assume your fully-released state, speak to her as one being.
Clarity of thought

>>2888961
I'm probably too late to count, but
>>Let Tenkotsuki speak for herself, swap control with her.

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>>2888961
You make a clear decision: the being that you are is something complex, an overlay of three different minds and sets of memories which contribute to a single whole. And that being, which shares the opinions and views of her three constituents, is what is at stake in this whole discussion. That being, which is only partly what you'd consider yourself, deserves a chance to speak for herself. After all, she may be your own future as well as that of the yet-unborn being who will become Tenkotsuki.

You don't get any sense of disagreement on this determination.

“Bankai: Higeki no Ōjo.”

The first wave of divine pressure draws Inari's attention, and then you draw your second blade.

“Raze, Kobara no Tachi.”

With your second release, the lines which keep “Riku”, “Tenkotsuki”, and “Rosa” distinct begin to blur, and perspective seems to shift. New emotions mingle with an altered understanding of the situation.

“Inari Ōkami,” you address your divine mother. “This is a form which you should see before making the decision which you alone must.”

“I ask your understanding in this matter.”

“If you wish for my understanding,” she replies carefully, “then you should be willing to answer a few questions that I have?”

“I am so willing,” you bow your head politely. “What is it that you wish to know?”

“What is it that I am seeing before me?”

“The synthesis of three beings,” you explain. “The soul of a living human spiritualist, Rosa Rosette, which began to undergo soul suicide after her traumatic death. The soul of the then deceased but restless being which called itself Tamamo no Mae, which had been purged from the earth after many years fueled by her grudge against the humans who killed her, made a pact with Rosa that would allow her to pass on into the afterlife.”

“This resulted in a trinary system of linked souls: Tamamo, the memories and prejudices and anger of Rosa which would remain Rosa, and all the other aspects which would become a third being. This third being would go on to become the shinigami Kusajishi Riku, with whom you were just speaking.”

“And these swords at her side,” Inari presses. “They contained the fragments of that system which comprised Tamamo and Rosa?”

“In the simplest terms yes,” you confirm, “though each of those beings embodies a basic aspect of her personality. Tamamo, now called Tenkotsuki as a zanpakuto, embodies pride. Rosa, the blade belonging to whom is Kobara no Tachi, embodies rage.”
>1/2

>>2889082
man, is all three cool as fck though

>>2889082
“Then the full release of these swords combines these characteristics,” Inari realizes. “Including humanity, shinigami, divinity, and the nature of a hollow?”

You nod in confirmation. “Yes. It is a relief that you picked up on that, I have little clear idea what concepts are commonly-understood in my own time trace back to this era.”

“Most of them,” Inari informs you, “although this is my first time actually seeing a 'zanpakuto' in practice. I am sure that you understand the fact that deities do not spend much time interacting with other beings.”

“I gathered as much,” you sigh. “I assume that there are other aspects of the situation you would like to be clarified?”

“You assume rightly,” Inari nods. “What is it that you were doing which ended in your arrival here?”

>There is a war raging at the time I just left. I fear the entire world as I have known it is at terrible risk. Many souls will be lost, and the balance thrown into upheaval.
>I have seen many wars, Inari Ōkami. I have no fear of them. What I fear is something else I sense at work, something unwholesome and dangerous.
>There is a man, a traitor, who threatens all that I hold dear and all he once swore to protect. Such a man cannot be allowed to shape the world as he sees fit.
>Other?

Pick ONE, as each represents a different way of understanding the present conflict at a basic level.